2,000-acre site, slightly used, may be up for development.

Planners ask: What would you do with Fresh Kills?

In a city where vacant land is harder to find than a cab at rush hour, the prospects of a virtually undeveloped piece of land three times the size of Central Park would be enough to make a developer's mouth water.

But what if the site is in the middle of Staten Island on a former landfill? What is the development potential then? To answer those questions, the city's Planning Department is holding an international design competition for the Fresh Kills Landfill. At more than 2,000 acres, it is largest site for potential development the city has seen in years.

"The closure of the landfill marks the beginning of a new era for Fresh Kills. We have the opportunity to transform a toxic landscape into a spectacular public resource that serves Staten Island and the entire region," said Kent Barwick, president of the Municipal Art Society of New York, which will assist the city with the planning effort.

The Planning Department has posted some details about the competition on its website, but a department spokes-woman said the department plans to formally kick off the program at the end of April.

Two weeks ago, the city capped the last of four garbage mounds that reached from 90 to 225 feet above sea level. The city's Department of Sanitation has been working with the state to ensure that the landfill is capped using environmentally sound procedures and that alternate measures are in place to meet the city's sanitation needs.

The goal of the design competition is to devise a master plan for the area, which will delineate long-term plans for the site. Ideally, the plan would describe the city facilities operating on the site, the physical and regulatory site constraints, and the opportunities presented over time for the site.

The Department of City Planning will run the competition, with the assistance of the Departments of Sanitation, Parks and Recreation and Cultural Affairs and the Municipal Art Society. Professionals in design, engineering, ecology, art and planning will be invited to form design teams, with four to six teams invited to prepare conceptual master plans.

Ron Bruder, chairman of the Brookhill Group, which has developed brownfields, said several feet of clean soil is placed on top of landfills when they are capped. In the short-term they can be converted into recreational uses such as baseball fields and golf courses. It could take 15 to 20 years for the land to settle enough to be suitable for large developments like a shopping mall.

"You don't want to disturb the ground," he said.

Fresh Kills was used for household waste, which produces methane gas as it decomposes. The gas, which is flammable, needs to be vented into the atmosphere, he said.

"In the years to come as the land becomes more buildable, you might see more intense development," Bruder said.

Albert Appleton, a senior fellow at the Regional Plan Association, said RPA has not studied the Fresh Kills, site but has done other planning work in Staten Island. He said the site has been used as a landfill since 1948, but there are areas where the use was discontinued many years ago.

"There are some parts of it that are old and have not been used as a landfill for years," he said. "Those areas could potentially be developed."

He added, however, that in addition to the environmental constraints, there are transportation and other concerns with it.

For instance, the Island of Meadow bird sanctuary and the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge is in the area. He said there are many land use options for the site, but said it is likely to be used for residential use.

"It's not going to be the next Co-op City or Battery Park City. I don't think anybody would be comfortable with that," he said. "There are many options for the site, but I don't think any of them will call for intense development."